Everything I've Needed To Know
by sully vann
Summary: Veronica knows that value of learning from your mistakes.


Everything I've Needed To Know

PG - Mild cursing

Veronica with mentions of all pairings featured in S1

One Shot

Note: this is my first VM piece; so let me know what you think!

Summary: Veronica knows that value of learning from your mistakes.

"Seriously, Veronica, how can you not be stressed out?" Wallace asked as the bubbly blonde and whiny sophomore exited their World History class. "I'm stressing and I'm not even taking your crazy ass AP-college credit-I wanna go to a Ivy League college classes! And now on top of all your other finals plus working for your dad, we have to write a essay about how something in history affected us." Wallace continued as the duo made their way down the crowded hall.

Ms. Carr, their replacement World History teacher, had just given them their final assignment which would take the place of a final exam. How had something in history affect us or teach us.

"So I'm thinking I'm going to go with freeing the slaves and the maybe squeeze in the Civil Rights movement." Wallace said as Veronica smiled. "But I bet every other brother in that class will do the same—why are you smiling?" He asked as he noticed Veronica's lips turning up as she unloaded her backpack.

"I've got a idea." Veronica replied, closing her locker and turning to face Wallace.

"Let me guess! You want me to get Ms. Carr's file from the office so you can write about her history and how she became a teacher?" Wallace questioned, obviously excited.

"No." Veronica replied. "History really is important Wallace. Haven't you heard the saying if we don't learn from our past, history is doomed to repeat itself?" She asked as Wallace's face fell.

"Yeah—like I'll never get to school after Weevil and before anyone else." Wallace sighed, remembering his humiliating initiation into Neptune High's social order.

Veronica smiled as the bell rang and the pair split up and headed for their next class.

'Mhhh, finals'. Veronica smiled as she booted up her laptop and took in the scene around her.

- 

Lunch was never a peaceful time at Neptune High. The 09ers were always getting one thing or another delivered, the in-betweeners were always trying to get a word in edgewise, the burnouts harassed the geeks, the future politicians yelled into their cell phones—but today was different.

Today marked the last day of cramming before finals. The 09ers were suddenly giving the geeks their ordered-in food in exchange for help, the in-betweeners were making nice with the future politicians—who had actually shut off their phones while they were awake—and the burnouts—well, they were trying to harass everyone.

Nodding my head at the subtle primal atmosphere of it all, Veronica turned back to her computer and a blank screen.

'Everything I've Needed To Know, I Learned The Year My Best Friend Died'. Veronica

smiled at her title, knowing Lilly would be appalled that she had been the inspiration for anything relating to academics.

'History is often doomed to repeat itself', Veronica began to type. 'If we don't learn from our part—our history—we will simply make the same mistakes again. After my best friend Lilly Kane's death, I made more than a few mistakes. Fortunately, I've learned from them.'

'Don't swig a drink if you don't know where it came from. You never know who put what in it.'

Veronica winced as she remember the feeling she got when she woke up in that sterile white room alone—and without underwear.

'Never rely on the sheriff's office if you really want justice served.'

Just picturing Sheriff Lamb's face when he read what she had written on the 'dirty money' from the fake IDs could brighten her whole day.

'The truth can hurt—literally. We're talking second degree burns, fractured bones, and a nasty black eye.'

Veronica had to blink back tears as she thought about the absolute terror she felt when Aaron Echolls had locker her in the old refrigerator. Veronica could still remember the scent of her own hair burning.

'Never take anything for face value. Everyone's got a secret.'

Like her mother's new water bottle kick. Water bottles full of booze, that's a kick.

'Food—specifically Snickerdoodles—are the way to a guy's heart.'

Glancing at her desktop, Veronica grinned at Wallace's picture on her desktop, his eyes gleaming and his basketball uniform clean as the day he got it.

'Teenagers never do what you tell them, so just stop tempting us.'

Veronica looked at another picture adorning her desktop—Lilly, Logan, and Duncan on the night of Homecoming the night before. Even if Veronica hadn't been there, it was obvious that they were all quite inebriated.

'Computers are easily hackable, so encrypt your important files.'

As Veronica typed this, she wondered what she'd do with her cases if she really couldn't access other people's information through the World Wide Web.

'Don't believe everything you hear—especially if it's coming from a convict's mouth."

Able Koontz. Although he was released soon after Aaron had been taken into custody and then died shortly afterwards, Veronica could still recall the sting of his words when he told her that she might be Jake Kane's son—and Duncan's half-sister.

'The word parent can be defined in many different ways.'

Even if Jake had turned out to be her biological father, Veronica knew that the man she'd been living with for the past 17 years—the one who taught her how to ride a bike, helped her with her science projects, and trusted her enough to take cases—was her real father.

As for Mac? Well, Veronica wasn't sure what her definition of parent or family was, but she hoped she'd figure it out soon.

'Do unto others as they would do unto you—so don't do a background check else someone asks you to.'

The infamous background check tradeoff of 2005. Veronica wanted her dad to stop seeing her guidance counselor, so she did a background check on her and basically just pissed her dad off. Then he did a background check on Troy and Veronica actually ended up being grateful—and feeling like an even bigger ass than she had before she found out what a weasel Troy was.

A page and a half later, the bell rang and Neptune's social order was reinstituted as students made their way to their cars, their bikes, or their bus.

- 

When Veronica checked her email two weeks later, she was surprised to find an email from her own dad sitting in her inbox. When she opened it, she was even more surprised to find a forwarded message from Ms. Carr.

'Veronica-

I know you won't be getting your final grades in other classes until later in the summer, but I still had your dad's email from the good old days so I thought I'd let you know that you aced your essay. It was by far one of the best essays I've read out of all my classes.

Ms. Carr

PS. Please let Wallace know that his stance on the plight of the black man is very—unique.'

Veronica smiled as she began sorting through the rest of her emails.


End file.
